Fermented Feed - Give me the scoop!

[Gilded Feather]

Let me have it everyone. Tell me about fermented feed and why I should take the plunge! Give me all the details!

What I’ve read so far tells me that I will love this and never look back. So make it even more irresistible! I mean, it’s already sounding too good to be true by cutting my feed costs. (which will be an even more amazing thing since the money I’ll save will allow me to splurge and buy a better, more high quality feed for my babies! ) But I want to know it all: Why do you love it? Why is fermented feed so much better for chickens? Can I feed it to my month old silkie chicks? What kind of feed do you ferment? What do you use to ferment your feed in? What do you use to feed your flock the fermented feed? What fermentation process do you use? (1 day, 3 day?)

Please, tell me!

 

[Mo'sMenagerie]

Here's a great blog by Tik Tokk that talks about it. I would spend some time reading it and the FAQ page Tik Tokk has, too. Worth the read and VERY interesting IMHO. I highly recommend the FF, although it will add more time to your chicken routine. You can 100% feed it to baby chickens. Good for all ages! The only real downside I've found is that the chickens don't get to really "free-feed" when you do fermented feed. You feed them what they can eat in the morning --they eat it all. Then rinse and repeat for the evening meal. The issue being that they can get really hungry between these 2 meals a day--especially younger chickens. I'm not convinced it's good to feed them only twice a day. So, what I've been doing is feeding 3 times a day for the younger ones, and I keep a treadle feeder with dry, non-fermented, feed they can "free-feed" on throughout the day. So you can see, there are ways around the downfalls, but it takes more time and committment. I do a two-bucket method, not a three. Could do the one bucket "back-slop" method as described in the above article, but I couldn't handle the smell. Works better for me to make fresh every few days.

 

[Gilded Feather]

Here's a great blog by Tik Tokk that talks about it. I would spend some time reading it and the FAQ page Tik Tokk has, too. Worth the read and VERY interesting IMHO. I highly recommend the FF, although it will add more time to your chicken routine. You can 100% feed it to baby chickens. Good for all ages! The only real downside I've found is that the chickens don't get to really "free-feed" when you do fermented feed. You feed them what they can eat in the morning --they eat it all. Then rinse and repeat for the evening meal. The issue being that they can get really hungry between these 2 meals a day--especially younger chickens. I'm not convinced it's good to feed them only twice a day. So, what I've been doing is feeding 3 times a day for the younger ones, and I keep a treadle feeder with dry, non-fermented, feed they can "free-feed" on throughout the day. So you can see, there are ways around the downfalls, but it takes more time and committment. I do a two-bucket method, not a three. Could do the one bucket "back-slop" method as described in the above article, but I couldn't handle the smell. Works better for me to make fresh every few days.

Oh, thank you for the links! I will definitely check them out.

Now see, you’re like me, I was wondering if they’d get hungry between feedings. The idea of a feeder with dry feed in it for all day access does seem like a very good one to help the younger birds bridge the gap between meals. I know that’d make me feel better at least until they’re older.

Thank you again for input! It’s greatly appreciated!

 

[Mo'sMenagerie]

Your welcome!

And one more thing, if you go with the treadle style feeder, know that they are usually not recommended for young birds and pullets bc they can't get enough weight on the paddle that opens the feeder for them. The babies can get stuck in them too.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Now see, you’re like me, I was wondering if they’d get hungry between feedings. The idea of a feeder with dry feed in it for all day access does seem like a very good one to help the younger birds bridge the gap between meals.

This is why I only offer FF in the morning. The rest of the day they have access to dry feed. That way they can eat as much or as little as they want (though they always finish off the FF first).

 

[Gilded Feather]

Your welcome!

And one more thing, if you go with the treadle style feeder, know that they are usually not recommended for young birds and pullets bc they can't get enough weight on the paddle that opens the feeder for them. The babies can get stuck in them too.

Oh gosh, I definitely don’t want the littles to get stuck! Thanks for the heads up!

 

[Gilded Feather]

This is why I only offer FF in the morning. The rest of the day they have access to dry feed. That way they can eat as much or as little as they want (though they always finish off the FF first).

Ah, that’s actually a good idea as well. I definitely don’t want them to do without if they end up being hungry later in the day.

 

[Mo'sMenagerie]

This is why I only offer FF in the morning. The rest of the day they have access to dry feed. That way they can eat as much or as little as they want (though they always finish off the FF first).

Hmmmm... I like that idea. How do you feed the FF to them? Do you use a trough like feeder? How many chickens do you do this for?

 

[rosemarythyme]

Hmmmm... I like that idea. How do you feed the FF to them? Do you use a trough like feeder? How many chickens do you do this for?

I have a small flock (7) so I use cat food dishes and ferment in a large glass jar (simply water + feed, no draining, residue from one batch goes into the next to kick start it). As I don't leave food out overnight they're pretty hungry in the morning, so by having multiple small dishes it spreads out the flock so there's less conflict over food.

The dry feeder goes out at the same time but they ignore it until the FF is gone.

 

[sunrise.superman]

Mine free range the yard at the moment while I build a larger coop (chicken math) so I've started fermented feed in the a.m., they gobble that up, and then free feed dry feeder and whatever they find ranging.